Weakness
by Ari-the-Writer
Summary: "...at heart, I am still human. I am ripped apart by grief, tainted by rage, terrified of all the pain... I am not as pure as I once was. But I am myself. The one who destroyed Naraku, who eradicated the shikon no tama. I can be nothing else. No matter how hard I try."


_A.N. This one is quite dark-I was kind of thinking about all of the stories where Kagome is always the same, unchanged from her experiences, and I thought I'd give her a chink in her armor. I don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho._

There was no light in the room, only darkness. The air stank of sweat, feces and suffering. It was the last place the hybrid expected to find her. The most powerful miko of all time had been reduced to this? His nose wrinkled in disgust as he walked with purpose towards the one he'd been sent to find. "Miko."

Bleary eyed, the female peered up at the source of the voice and giggled. "You have eyes like the one I killed... But you talk like the other one." Clearly intoxicated, the blue eyed beauty simply turned away, ready to lapse back into her silence.

Frustrated with her response, he grabbed her wrists and hauled her to her feet. "Hn. You are coming with me."

"Whoa... I don't do that..." Swaying on her feet, she shoved back. The sudden movement sent her crashing to the concrete floor below.

Narrowing his crimson eyes at her, he yanked her up into his arms once more. "Hn." He threw her over his shoulder and began carrying the kicking and screaming woman from the den of despair.

"Let me go!" She began to cry pitifully as the sun hit her pale skin for the first time in god only knew how long. She had to shut her eyes against it, whimpering like a child.

With a grunt, he let her fall. "Hn. I have been instructed to bring you to Makai. You can come with me, or I can knock you out and take you there."

Shielding her eyes from the light, the miko squinted at him. "Sesshomaru's lackey? Tell him to go fuck himself." Trying to squirm back into the dingy hole that had become her home, she didn't even get a chance to make a sound before he hit a pressure point, rendering her unconscious.

x~x~x

Waking on a soft bed that felt eerily familiar, the miko jerked upwards. "Damn you!" She struggled against the invisible bonds her captor had placed her in. Beads of sweat appeared on her pale skin, fever already taking hold of her.

Cool golden orbs watched her flailing, a sigh passing through his lips. "You are struggling pointlessly, Miko. The toxins have worn you down enough. It is best to simple 'ride it out', as you would say." Sitting down on the bed next to her, he wiped the sweat from her face.

"I didn't ask for your help!" Chest heaving, the woman convulsed as pain ripped through her very being.

Pityingly, he smoothed back her sweat drenched hair. Scenting the air, he grabbed a bed pan and allowed her to wretch into it, still holding her hair back. The smell of pure acid tinged with blood caused his nose to wrinkle. "You stopped eating." Looking into her glazed eyes, he shook his head in sorrow and frustration. "You are but a shadow of the miko I knew."

Crying as her skin began to tingle, the brush of fabric on her skin stinging and itching, she grabbed his sleeve. "Please... Just let me go. I don't want to feel."

x~x~x

Hearing the feminine cries, Hiei couldn't help but twitch. It irked him that the legend he'd known practically from birth was about a creature so pitiful. "Hn. Foolish onna." Uncertain why he was even staying, he turned to leave only to come face to face with an orange haired kitsune.

"She isn't foolish you know. Just in pain." Walking past him with an eerie sort of grace, his aquamarine eyes stared down the hall to the miko's room.

Glaring at the youkai he had not even sensed, the hybrid crossed his arms over his chest. "Hn. She is pathetic. She would rather put toxins in her body and live in squalor than face her responsibilities."

"You truly know nothing of her." With a tense smile, the kitsune continued to gaze down the hall. "The whole purpose of the drugs hasn't been to escape responsibility. It has been to forget, to stop feeling."

"Hn. Foolish." Still not understanding, the crimson eyed male took in the almost desperate look on the male's face and nearly snorted. The boy was scarcely full grown and sending looks of longing after the woman.

Shaking his head, a crooked smile took possession of the younger male's lips. "Surely _you_ understand pain... She is a woman that has had almost all things ripped from her. Her first love chose hell over her, her friends are dead, and so is her family. All she has left is Sesshomaru-An egomaniac who barely knows what a friend is, let alone how to _be_ one."

Glaring at the boy, he itched to beat the smile from his face. It was mocking.

"I mean, imagine! You come home to find your family mutilated and are presented with the knowledge that it was because of you. Then the one person you love most in the world dumps you for a corpse! On top of that, the friends you still have are aging and dying while you remain young. Even so, you keep going. Raise an adopted son, garner a reputation... Then your son, the only family you have left is murdered? Rough to say the least." Shaking his head in what seemed regret, the rusty haired male sighed.

Vaguely curious, he shrugged. "Hn. So she became a 'junky'." The term was familiar to him and perhaps even more disdainful to him than to the human population.

"No. Burying her son was terrible. But it wasn't enough to completely shut her down. She started drinking a bit. But it didn't interfere with her duties, so Sesshomaru decided to ignore it and allow her to grieve the way she wished. Then Ayame died. So Kouga and she became drinking buddies. She was spiraling down, but the final straw was ten years back. She had a chance to change her past-To save her family from mutilation and death. She nearly did. However, Sesshomaru stopped her. And she saw it all, unable to interfere. That was when she disappeared, trying to get away from reality." Somberly, the man closed his eyes.

"Hn." He could think of no response. He still found her weak.

"All people are weak, Hiei. Youkai, human, immortal... All need someone to help them at times. And when they don't feel they have anyone, there are two paths that can be taken-Destruction of the world, or destruction of themselves." Giving him a meaningful look, he began to walk away.

"Who are you?" Hiei demanded, glaring at the boy he still couldn't even sense.

"So you haven't figured it out?" Amused, he shook his head. "Tell her that her kit wants her to stop." With that, he disappeared, leaving no scent or trace of youki.

Furious, the hybrid began to stomp away only to pause. A painting had caught his eye. It was of the miko, looking joyous yet refined. But what truly made him pause was the male next to her. It was the one who had just disappeared. Beneath the painting was a little plaque, labeling it. _Shikon no Miko and Son_

x~x~x

"Why... Why can't you let me be? I'm not doing anything that affects you..." Whimpering, laying nude and broken before him, she couldn't even open her eyes. Her skin was crawling, the tiniest brush of cloth bringing immense pain. Fever flushed her skin, and pain was her only expression.

Pausing, the golden eyed inu resisted the urge to cover her body, knowing it would only bring more discomfort. "You saved me once, Kagome." His voice was soft as he smoothed her hair back. "When Rin died, I went into a rage. I killed everything. And you pulled me back. Let me save you."

"I didn't ask for you to save me!" Her sudden scream caused pain to shoot through her skull, dizziness causing her to vomit once more into the bed pan as Sesshomaru held her hair back.

Suddenly, the doors to the room flew open, revealing an almost bored looking hybrid. He ignored the warning growls from the taiyoukai and went to the bed, grabbing her chin harshly as her eyes cracked open. "Your kit says he wants you to stop." Letting go, he simply left them.

x~x~x

Standing in Koenma's office, Hiei nearly snorted at the demi-god's nervousness. "Hn. Speak or I leave."

Light, feminine chuckles sounded from behind the hybrid, causing him to turn. Standing before him was the miko of legend. "Hello Hiei. I wished to speak with you about the mission you completed about a month back."

Noting that the demi-god had left his office, the male simply stared at her. "Hn."

Stepping towards him, she looked him in the eyes. "You... You said you saw Shippou-chan... That you _talked_ to him. Did he... Was he..." She bit her lip, worry swimming in pools of sapphire. "Did he seem angry with me?"

Somewhat surprised by the question, he simply gazed at the broken woman, wondering how she had survived the great battle. Such weakness... "No."

Relief washed over her, the question obviously having caused her a great deal of stress. "Thank you, Hiei." Smiling, she turned to leave.

"He should have been. You disgrace yourself." Unsure why he had even spoken, the hybrid glared at her back.

Turning to gaze at him, she simply smiled a tired, sad sort of smile. "I disgrace my legend. I am aware. But legends aren't fact. At the beginning of it all, I was a scared human girl who stepped into something beyond comprehension. I became stronger, yes. I became immortal, yes. But at heart, I am still human. I am ripped apart by grief, tainted by rage, terrified of all the pain... I am not as pure as I once was. But I am myself. The one who destroyed Naraku, who eradicated the shikon no tama. I can be nothing else. No matter how hard I try." Her eyes became distant at that, body sagging.

Surprised that she admitted to her weakness, he simply turned away. "Hn."

"Perhaps what you hate isn't my weakness, Hiei, but yours. If the legends are true, than perfection can be attained. If not, there is no hope for you. When you saw me, you saw what could become of you under the right conditions. Because at the core, we're all the same... We all want to be saved. And in your own way, it was you who saved me. And it is you to whom I owe a debt. Call on me anytime Jaganshi Hiei." With that, she disappeared.


End file.
